I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32)
The laundry basket crashed at my feet.
I looked up the stairs and saw my mother-in-law at the top.
She had literally thrown her laundry basket down the steps because it was too hard for her to carry it down.
That was a clue that it was time for us to move to a house without stairs.
But as you know if you’ve done it, finding a new place to live is a huge and important decision.
I wanted to come up with a prayer my wife and I could agree on. I had recently memorized Matthew 18:19 where Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”
What’s the weak link in that prayer formula? It’s getting two people on earth to actually agree on something!
So I wanted to come up with a precise prayer for our housing that my wife and I could agree on, but what would it be?
I was thinking of all the things we could ask for in a new house, but I was also thinking, “What do I know?” I don’t know the future or what we will need and how life will play out. But God does. Matthew 6:8 says that God knows our needs before we even ask!
Then I got to thinking about a basketball game. What if I was the coach, and time was running out, and the game was on the line. And oh yeah, Michael Jordan is on the team! Would I try to draw up some elaborate play out of my own thinking and tell them what to do? Or would I simply hand the ball to Michael Jordan and say, “Here you go. Just do what you do.”
God is far more capable than Michael Jordan, so why would I come up with an elaborate prayer to tell God what to do?
So this became our prayer for a new house, “God, please, just do what You do regarding our housing.”
No, we didn’t sit back and do nothing. My wife was on the hunt, diligently looking at what was on the market. And I think she just liked looking at all the houses, which is something I don’t really care about.
Then one day she took me to see a house, and when I saw it from a distance, something “pinged” inside of me and I thought, “This is good. This could be the place!”
And it was! It turned out to be the perfect place for us and our needs and even what was coming in the future that we had no idea about.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord…”
Yes, many times I pray very specific prayers, “letting my requests be made known unto God.” But other times, like in this housing situation, I just trust the Lord, put the ball completely in His hands and say, “Here you go. Here’s the ball, Lord. Please, just do what You do, and I know it’s going to be wonderful. It’s going to be the best it can be!”
So if you need a short prayer of faith today, and one we can easily agree on, here you go. Just pray this prayer with me.
“God, please, just do what You do.”
Amen.
May God bless you today.
I’m Doug Apple.
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